State and county prosecutors won’t charge a former Burlington police sergeant for shooting and wounding a suicidal man on Manhattan Drive last summer.
In a joint press release on Thursday, Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark and Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George said former Burlington sergeant Simon Bombard was justified in shooting 20-year-old David Johnson after the man charged at another officer while wielding a large kitchen knife.
“Under the totality of these circumstances during and leading up to the shooting, an objectively reasonable officer in the position of Sergeant Bombard would have concluded that there was no reasonable alternative to using deadly force to prevent death or serious bodily injury,” the statement says.
The prosecutors arrived at their decision after reviewing an investigation by the Vermont State Police and a report from a use-of-force expert, they said.
Bombard resigned from the department in late January. Police Chief Jon Murad said Bombard had expressed his intention to quit a few weeks before the incident.
“The stress and scrutiny of the shooting reinforced his decision, however,” Murad wrote in an email. “He was an exemplary officer and supervisor and I personally regret losing him as an employee and leader.”
Bombard and two other officers responded to Johnson’s Old North End home on August 13, 2022, and found Johnson standing on the sidewalk holding the knife. Johnson repeatedly told officers that he wanted to die, officials said.
The officers, who were trained in crisis response, attempted to calm the situation for several minutes before Johnson ran toward Officer Brock Marvin with the knife. Marvin deployed his Taser while Bombard fired off three shots. One hit Johnson’s leg, wounding him; another struck Marvin’s cruiser parked nearby. The third hit two other vehicles on Manhattan Drive, one of which was occupied by a bystander who estimated that the bullet missed his head by mere inches.
Johnson was transported to the University of Vermont Medical Center, where he told detectives that “he did not want to hurt anyone, he just wanted the police to kill him,” an affidavit said.
George later charged Johnson with aggravated assault and reckless endangerment for running at Marvin and for provoking police to shoot him in a public place. On Thursday, George said Johnson’s case is on hold after the court found he’s not competent to stand trial.
BPD’s internal shooting investigation was delayed while the prosecutors reviewed the shooting. That work can now proceed, Murad said.
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